Digital image warping has been evolving for decades, and has grown to embrace a wide variety of applications, such as medical imaging, computer graphics, and computer vision. As computers become more powerful, digital image warping has become well suited to enhance such fields as special effects and image synthesis. Early discoveries related to remote sensors as well as recent developments in computer graphics and digital camera capabilities have contributed greatly to the field of image warping.
Image warping systems have become of interest in the area of computer-generated imaging technologies. For example, some digital warping methods use a technique known as “nearest neighbor” to warp a digital image. However, traditional nearest neighbor warping techniques are limited in precision and in their ability to present a smoothed, warped image to a user, often resulting in unwanted artifacts, or “aliasing,” which produces jagged image lines (e.g., “jaggies”). Furthermore, nearest neighbor methods typically require substantial and time-consuming table-lookup protocols, further limiting their efficiency and/or effectiveness.
An unmet need exists in the art for systems and methods that facilitate high-speed, smoother image warping.